Past Is Prologue Pt. 2

Posted on Tue Aug 24th, 2021 @ 1:16pm by Lieutenant Aiko Kato

Mission: Breen in Paradise
Location: Deep Space 9
Timeline: Before Departure from DS9

As the doors leading to her quarters slid open, Aiko wiped tears from her eyes hoping that her eyes were not too red. She hated being emotional and was only relieved by the fact that she had at least managed to make it to her quarters before she started crying.

She was not even really sure why she was crying. Her emotions were a mixture of sadness for having to leave but also joy and excitement about what was ahead. The final goodbyes were harder than she had imagined. She wished she had stayed with the original plan of stealing away from the Scylax without a word, but she suspected that with this crew, they knew her well enough to know that she would try that.

No doubt, why they had ambushed her on the Bridge with cake and the informal goodbyes.

Aiko walked into her quarters. It was bare now, most of her personal effects having already been shipped to the Washington. The few personal effects that remained were small enough to fit into a small duffel bag, which she picked up and easily swung across her chest. She paused, taking one last look at her quarters as she remembered the memories made.

Steeling herself for what were very likely the last few footsteps she would be taking on board the Scylax Aiko Kato headed out of her quarters and into the hallway on her way to DS9, where she would quickly transition to the USS Washington which was to be her new home.

She felt her eyes beginning to well again and quickly wiped her eyes. She quickened the pace of her walk, keeping her face downwards so as not to attract any unwanted conversation but also so that she did not inadvertently see some corridor or something that was meaningful to her, which would start the waterworks again.

This is pathetic Aiko, she thought to herself. Even still, she understood the intensity behind her emotions. This had been home for well over a decade and a decade was not an insignificant amount of time. They were also formative years for her. She had been built up, broken and put back together in that decade. And this crew had been there every step of the way.

As she walked, she wondered if she had made any difference on the Scylax in her time on the vessel. She knew without a doubt that she had as much as she knew the
Scylax and crew had changed her for the better.

She just hoped that she could continue to make them proud on her new adventure.

She was reminded of a famous quote by Pericles, a prominent and influential Greek statesman and General of Athens during the city state's golden age, "What you leave behind is not what is engraved on stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

She hoped that was true for her relationship with the Scylax and her crew.

"Until we meet again," she muttered as, now off the ship, she glanced at the closed docking ring leading back to the ship.

For the first time in a long time, she would be heading the opposite way from home.

This chapter was closed, but a new beginning was emerging in the wake of this end, and it titillated her with new adventures that would no doubt test her, but she was more than ready for the challenge.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly smiling to herself.

This new chapter will begin at Quark's, with a drink or two...